“She ruined me! They ruined me! They won’t get away with it.” Annie sat up in the medical clinic bed, grumbling to herself, her face and arms streaked with red welts, her eyes burned an icy blue. She scratched her itchy arms and was surprised to see Angel Vesta beside her bed.
“Annie.” Angel Vesta’s voice rang clearer than any note Annie could sing.
“Yes,” Annie croaked, her voice raw from crying.
“Don’t try to talk.” Angel Vesta moved closer and lifted a hand, palm down to hush her.
“No. I have to talk to you. You have to know. They did it on purpose. Those sisters, the ones who always dress in ruffles and bows, the ones nobody can tell apart.” Annie hissed the words, her voice raw and emotional.
“They made the shell trim for my dress and told me to wear it. This is what happened.” She stretched out her red, swollen wrists, turned her head to show the red welts extending from her neck up to and around her face. She covered her teary eyes with her hand, peeping through fingers to watch Angel Vesta’s reaction.
“Jet’s the one who gave them the shells. He went into that cave, the one at the Star Point near the Rogue Sea. I saw him. He found them there, the shells, you see. He broke the rules. Zadie knew about it, too. They all knew.” She began to sob, tears rolling down her swollen face.
“I don’t understand why they don’t like me. I tried to be their friend.” She faced Angel Vesta, lip quivering, eyes red from rubbing.
Angel Vesta listened, eyes unwavering. “You would have them be kind to you, as you were kind to them?” she asked.
“Exactly,” Annie agreed. She sat up straight, pleased that Angel Vesta understood.
“Zadie had a problem with her water drum on the day of the Star Festival parade. Did you know that?”
“No. What happened?” Annie feigned interest by fluttering her eyelashes and gasping.
“I thought she might have told you, since she planned to play it and accompany you tonight.”
“Well, she didn’t.”
“You must be pleased that your team won Thursday’s raft race.” Angel Vesta moved closer to the bed. Annie brightened, nodding.
“But you were worried about your friends, so you went back alone?” she asked in the same calm, musical voice.
“Yes, I—” Annie stopped mid-sentence, her face flushed. “How, how did you know that? They lied to you. I went back to help. Their raft fell apart when they hit something. They were already in the water when I got there.”
“But you didn’t stay to help?” Angel Vesta asked.
“They want you to believe that. They don’t like me.”
“The dress. You wore the dress with the shells, even though you knew Star, Opal, and Amber planned to use the shells to make their gift for the angels? Even though you suspected the shells came from a forbidden place, a place beyond the Star Points?” Angel Vesta floated above Annie’s bed, her eyes focused on Annie.
“Your fellow student, Halo, nearly lost this new life to rescue her friend, Zadie.” Angel Vesta continued to speak.
“Zadie played the introduction for your song on the drum that Jet made for her, correct?”
“Well, yeah, but she wanted to. She thought she’d get more attention that way.” Annie shook her long blond hair, pushing it over her shoulder.
“Your song, was it the song Zadie wrote to use as her own gift?”
Annie couldn’t speak. She couldn’t believe Angel Vesta was accusing her of taking Zadie’s gift.
“Your talent, the one you have perfected during your year here is an acceptable gift. Using the gifts of others to enhance your own gift is not acceptable. The raft accident endangered the new lives of five people.”
“But—” Annie tried to interrupt.
“You took shells that Opal, Star, and Amber intended to use for their gift. You forced them to use these same shells to decorate your gown, the gown you wore to make your own gift presentation. Why did they do that for you, Annie?” she continued, not giving Annie a chance to defend herself.
“Zadie planned to play ‘The Shell Drum Song,’ a song that she wrote for her gift. ‘Annie’s Song’ is that same music. She freely gave you the song of her heart to protect her brother.
“You watched Jet enter a cave at the edge of the Star Points. You knew he stayed until past suns down. Why were you there after suns down, Annie?”
“No. No. It’s a plot against me. They’re jealous. They told you a lie. They hate me.” Annie threw back the sheet and jumped from the bed in a rage.
“It is their word against mine. I didn’t do anything wrong. They hate me,” she yelled.
Angel Vesta shook her head. Her eyes spoke sadness.
“God gave you a talent. The way you use this talent is your choice. You can ignore it, hide it, or you can invest your own time to nourish it and reap the benefits of its growth. Your greed in using the talents of others for your own benefit is unacceptable.”
Annie held her hands over her ears, and tears streaked down her face as she sobbed, gulped air, tried to speak.
“Annie, you cannot celebrate your Birth Day tomorrow at White Feathers.” Angel Vesta floated to the window of Annie’s room, her expression sad. “I’m sorry, Annie. Your voice is no longer your talent. I order your return. You will not have another opportunity to study at White Feathers Academy. You will be banished from angel training forever. Go with my prayer to use this chance for a new beginning in another world wisely.” Angel Vesta faded from the room, leaving Annie standing beside the bed, stunned, not believing Angel Vesta’s final words.
Annie’s hands began to glow and flicker like the starfish in the caves. The glow moved down her arms to her torso, lit her feet and legs, her arms began to shrink, and her legs grew shorter.
“No. Wait.” Annie rushed to the window, calling for Angel Vesta. Her gown slipped off her shoulders, crumpling on the floor like a discarded towel. Her soul, now a glowing ball, hiccupped across the room, searching until it found warmth in the outstretched palm of a waiting angel.
The angel took the precious soul in her hand, soaring into a starless night toward another galaxy, a new life.
~ ~ ~
Halo stayed in the shower till her skin glowed pink and her hair squeaked when she rinsed bubbles over her shoulders. She sang an off-key, “I’m going to wash that mud right out of my hair,” laughing out loud because she remembered a long-forgotten tune from another time, another place. She couldn’t wait to talk to Zadie, tell her about Jet’s cave, the shells, spotted berries, and their trip home. She toweled off, found clean pajamas, and began brushing the tangles out of her hair.
She wanted to see Midas and Koze tonight. They had to be okay, really okay.
“Please, God, let Koze be repaired, and please let Midas get well. I really hope animals have a good place to go, like White Feathers. I hope they get to fly up, like we do here. And, God, Jet didn’t mean to break rules. He really loves to paint. He makes such pretty colors from the shells, you know, the ones that aren’t still alive. He likes fixing things, too. And, God, I know I didn’t give a gift to the angels today because, well, I’m not exactly good at anything in particular. Please let me know what I can give you, and it’s yours. Amen.”
She stopped talking when the Zadie walked in door.
“Where have you been, Zadie? What’s wrong?” She could tell by the stooped shoulders and red-rimmed eyes that her roommate was miserable. “I’m so sorry. You saved my life. I got you into all this trouble. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t even know what was going on. I’m sorry,” Zadie confessed.
“Hey. We’re both still here. That’s good, isn’t it?” She hugged Zadie. “What didn’t I know?”
“Lots of stuff.” Zadie shrugged away, dropping down to sit on the floor pillows. “You see, Annie knew Jet broke the rules. He went past the Star Points to his cave. She knew he stayed out after suns down. Annie said she’d tell Angel Vesta everything. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Wait a minute. Annie told you about Jet’s cave? How did she know?” She dropped down to sit beside Zadie. “I don’t get it.”
“Not everybody knows that Jet is my twin brother. He made the shell drum for me. I didn’t ask him where he found the giant shell. I didn’t want to know in case it came from somewhere, well, you know?” She continued to twist a stand of hair with her thumb. “Annie said if I would give her my music, the music I wrote for my gift, she wouldn’t tell. I told her that I would. Then, I found out that she convinced Amber, Opal, and Star to use their shells to decorate her dress, and I got mad. They’ve worked on those shells forever, cleaning and matching them, making them into jewelry for their Birth Day gift. I told Annie I’d changed my mind. I wouldn’t let her use my music. Well, uh, that’s when she tried to sink our raft. I’m really sorry. You didn’t know about all this bad stuff.” Zadie took a big breath and started to stand up. “You can be mad at me. It doesn’t matter.”
“Zadie, I’m not mad at you. Why didn’t you tell Jet? Tell Angel Vesta?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head and started cracking her knuckles again.
“It’s okay now. We told Angel Vesta everything tonight. We’re guilty, too, like Jet. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. He broke the rules, and we didn’t try to stop him. Why did he go to that stupid cave anyway?” Zadie shut her eyes, tossed her head, trying to shake it off.
“I’ve been to the cave,” Halo whispered.
“You what?” Zadie’s squinty eyes opened wide.
“That’s how we got back here, through the cave. Jet loves that cave. He goes there to paint, and he’s really good. He makes his own beautiful colors by scraping out the insides of the shells. His paintings are awesome.” She tried to keep her voice low and checked the door to make sure it was shut.
“Paints? Jet paints? What’s the big deal with that?” Zadie asked.
“I guess he thinks he doesn’t really have a talent, and since he can’t talk unless he uses the wrist thing, he would have a hard time explaining this painting. After all, he wasn’t assigned to art classes and the paints aren’t exactly legal. Anyway, his talent is fixing things. He’s a whiz with machines and computers and stuff. He didn’t want to let anybody know about the paintings. Like, maybe he wasn’t supposed to, since he is such a genius and all.”
“That’s silly,” Zadie huffed.
“Yeah. He’s got stacks of stuff down there. There are pieces of wood, glass, real paintings on paper, and canvas, too. Besides, he found the spotted berries for Dr. Leaf.” She stopped talking for a minute to think about Midas. “Did Dr. Leaf come to see me?”
“No. Why? Is something wrong with him?”
“A snake bit Midas, in the cave. Dr. Leaf took him to TLC. Koze’s hurt, too. We took him to Angel Vesta tonight. That’s why we came to the arena first before cleaning ourselves up. We wanted to find her.”
“No. Midas is hurt?” Zadie reached out to hold her hand when someone knocked at the door.
“Who’s there?” Halo asked.
“Us, Amber, Star, and Opal,” one of them whispered. They tiptoed in.
“Did you tell her?”
“About Annie?”
“And Jet?” they asked. Opal dragged Star and Amber by the hand, pulling them to the floor cushions.
Halo retold the story of the big fish named Gamy, the spooky island, and the cave. She didn’t leave out anything this time. They pulled their pillows closer together, expanding their circle of friendship to include her. They joined hands, and she began by asking God and the angels to help Jet, Midas, and Koze.
She reminded them, “Tomorrow is Birth Day, December 25th. Tomorrow is the day we’ll find out if we get to fly up. And to where?”
Sleep wouldn’t come. Where would she go? She didn’t know anything about angels until she came here four months ago. She didn’t have a gift to present. She probably would never see Zadie, Opal, Star, Amber, or Jet again. She wondered if she would remember them in the new place. If there was a new place. She could barely remember anything about Earth and the people she knew there.
She wondered if Jet had friends. She said another prayer for Midas and Koze.